Topic: Alcohol/Drugs/Tobacco, Emotional Competency, Media Literacy
Target Population: Adolescents, Middle Childhood
Sector: Community-Based
This program is for youth who are 8 to 14 years old.
Health Rocks!®, a community-based 4-H program, is designed to prevent or reduce tobacco, alcohol, e-cigarette/vaping and drug use; improve decision-making; and promote overall health in youth.
Results from a single-group, retrospective post-then-pretest evaluation in middle school students showed that the program significantly increased youths’ perceptions of their knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, skills, and behavioral intentions regarding healthy lifestyles. Results from a second retrospective post-then-pretest evaluation indicated improvements in knowledge of substance use consequences, coping skills, and other assets related to healthy decision-making. Youths’ engagement in the program was associated with these self-reported gains in outcomes. Results from a third retrospective post-then-pretest evaluation demonstrated some positive effects on youths’ perceived knowledge, skills, and assets; however, the majority of youth reported no change in these outcomes from before participation in the program to after participation in the program. Finally, results from a retrospective pretest and posttest study indicated improvements in participant’s drug knowledge, drug beliefs and attitudes, decision-making, and behavioral skills to handle and resist drugs.
The Health Rocks! program intends to strengthen the connections between youth and adults within their communities in order to support youths’ overall well-being, and the curriculum is taught by a teen-adult team in a community center atmosphere. Some sites integrate this program into a broader health curriculum that includes healthy lifestyle education. Program content addresses coping with difficult situations and peer pressure, handling stress, and understanding the influences of media and technology. The program's goals include the following:
The curriculum for children who are 8 to 12 years old includes activities, hands-on experiences, learning assessments for the end of each unit, and an impact evaluation to be used at the end of the program. The program CD-ROM, included in this curriculum, consists of various resources for the teen and adult facilitators.
The curriculum for youth who are 12 to 14 years old includes activities, learning assessments, an impact evaluation, training resources, and a CD-ROM of teaching materials.
Health Rocks! has been implemented by many 4-H offices throughout the country, and, in 2010, the program reached over 20,000 youth.
This program is, generally, held at a 4-H facility and is implemented by 4-H staff comprised of teens and adults. If the program is implemented at another location, community volunteers, who are teens and adults, facilitate this program. Curriculum binders, which are necessary for running the program, include training information on how to implement the curriculum. No other training information was located.
Considerations for implementing this program include acquiring participant buy-in and parental consent; ensuring that transportation for participants is available; locating an appropriate site for the course to be held; and understanding that, if this program is held outside of a 4-H facility, 4-H staff should identify and train teen and adult staff.
The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
If you are interested in implementing Health Rocks!, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
Implementation time will vary; however, if facilitating the program through a 4-H office, please contact your local office for information.
The Beginner Level (Grades 3-6) curriculum is $10.50. The Intermediate Level (Grades 7-9) curriculum is $11.50. Beginner and Intermediate Levels may be purchased together for $20.50. Please visit https://4-h.org/parents/healthy-living/health-rocks/ for more information.
To move Health Rocks! to the Promising category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one evaluation with a strong study design that uses a comparison group should be performed demonstrating positive effects lasting at least one year from the beginning of the program or at least six months from program completion.
The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu
You may also contact 4-H by visiting https://4-h.org/contact/
Kumaran, M., Fogarty, K., Terminello, A., & Fung, W. M. (2014). The 4-H Health Rocks! program in Florida: Outcomes on youth tobacco, alcohol, and other substance abuse prevention. Journal of Youth Development, 9(2), 65-76. https://doi.org/10.5195/JYD.2014.60
Reeves, K. T., Donaldson, J. L., Naylor, M., & LeBleu, L. (2017). Youths perceive some improvement in substance abuse prevention knowledge, skills, and assets from participation in 4-H health rocks. Journal of Extension, 55(4).
Self, C., Morgan, A. C., Fuhrman, N. E., & Navarro, M. (2013). An evaluation of the 4-H Health Rocks program: Implications for program improvement. Journal of Drug Education, 43(1), 49-63. https://doi.org/10.2190/DE.43.1.d
Xia, Y., Taylor, S., & de Guzman, M. (2017). Evaluation of the Health Rocks! program: The association of youth engagement with program outcomes. Journal of Youth Development, 11(3), 95-104. https://doi.org/10.5195/jyd.2016.463
Kumaran, M., Fogarty, K., Fung, W. M., & Terminello, A. (2015). Improving healthy living youth development program outreach in extension: Lessons learned from the 4-H Health Rocks! program. Journal of Extension, 53(3).
Park, E., & Jang, B. G. (2018). Youth substance use prevention using disciplinary literacy strategies: A pilot study. Journal of Addictions Nursing, 29(4), 235-243. https://doi.org/10.1097/JAN.0000000000000253
Taylor, S., Do, K. A., Qin, S., Xia, Y., & de Guzman, M. (2019). Youths’ perspectives of experiential learning delivery: Findings from a multistate 4-H youth program. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension, 7(1), 71-91.
